Jack Klugman Movies

In this comedy, a man trying to turn away from a life of crime starts performing a little larceny in the interest of helping others. Tom Turner (Greg Kinnear) is a small-time con man who makes the mistake of trying to cheat a pair of undercover cops one night. Fortunately for Tom, his case is heard by a lenient judge who orders him to get a straight job and stay out of trouble; if he can stay employed for a year, his conviction will be wiped from the record. Tom is hired at the Post Office and assigned to the Dead Letter Office, where he and his co-workers Rebecca (Laurie Metcalf), Herman (Tim Conway), and Vladek (Hector Elizondo) try to figure out what to do with the sacks of mail addressed to Santa Claus, Elvis Presley, and God. Against orders, Tom opens one of the letters to God and is moved by the sad story of the woman who sent it. He decides to reply and accidentally mails her his pay check; but when he sees how happy the answer made the recipient, Tom and his co-workers start opening more letters and trying to answer a few prayers that would be within their reach -- which leads Tom back to the courthouse again. Director Garry Marshall has a small role as Preston Sweeney. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Inasmuch as series star Jack Klugman had been railing about the mediocre script writing which he felt had plagued the past seven seasons of Quincy, M.E., it is little wonder that Klugman himself receives writing credit for several episodes telecast during the series' eighth and final season on NBC. As before, the series' protagonist is Dr. Quincy, hard-driving medical examiner for the L.A. County Coroner's Office. In addition to such familiar series regulars as John S. Ragin, Robert Ito, Val Bisoglio, and Garry Walberg, season eight features a new recurring character, Dr. Emily Hanover, played by Anita Gillette. After years of playing the field romance wise, Quincy decides this season that it is time to settle down, thus he proposes marriage to Emily -- though how he finds the time to do this while solving murders and crusading against a vast array of social ills is anybody's guess! In the season opener "Baby Rattlesnakes," Quincy comes up against a young gang member who would seemingly rather take a murder rap than rat on his friends. The next episode,"A Ghost of a Chance" puts Quincy in the unenviable position of proving that an eminent heart surgeon may be a fraud; and a few weeks later, he must wean a fellow medical examiner (Ina Balin) away from a ruinous alcohol dependency in "Dying for a Drink." In later episodes, Quincy ends up in a small town court where the witnesses in a murder trial have been bullied into committing perjury; he takes the controversial position that punk rock music may have brought about a youngster's death; he goes head to head with the dreaded Japanese underworld organization The Yazuka; he reconstructs the last few days in the life of a young girl who has been found dead on the side of highway; he exposes a faulty school system which allows illiterate students to be promoted without question (his involvement arises from a fatal accident that might have been prevented had the victim known how to read); and in the two-part "Quincy's Wedding," Quincy and his sweetheart, Dr. Emily Hanover, have their nuptial plans ruined by the pressures of Quincy's job (most of them brought on by himself). The series finale, "The Cutting Edge," was originally intended as the pilot for a new weekly hospital drama starring Barry Newman as Dr. Gabriel McCracken. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The sixth season of Quincy, M.E. features the familiar cast from the past several seasons, chief among them Jack Klugman as Dr. Quincy, the star medical examiner of the L.A. County Coroner's Office. By this time, Quincy's superior and frequent adversary Dr. Robert Astin (John S. Ragin) is no longer the pompous bureaucratic boob that he'd been in the earliest episodes, but instead one of Quincy's closest friends and biggest public supporters -- even when our hero rubs the powers that be the wrong way with his relentless crusade against medical stupidity, organized crime and social iniquities. Also prominently featured, as before, are Quincy's police contact, Lt. Monahan (Garry Walberg), his lab assistant, Sam (Robert Ito) and his restaurateur pal Danny (Val Bisoglio). New to the series this season is Diane Markoff in the recurring role of Danny's top waitress, Diane. Season six opens with a typically complex, multi-plotted entry, "Last Rights," in which Quincy tries to prove that a grieving father is covering up the facts of his son's death, while simultaneously doing battle with owner of a textile mill where several suspicious accidents have occurred. The issue of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome is probed in "The Night Killer," with Quincy trying to find out if a woman has killed her baby in a fit of rage, or if the child's death was a tragic accident; and a later episode, "Seldom Silent, Seldom Heard," tackles the issue of Tourette's Syndrome -- and a solution for the ailment that may be worse than the disease. In "Welcome to Paradise Palms," Quincy runs into a wall of bureaucratic silence surrounding a possible bubonic plague epidemic at an Arizona Indian reservation. "Stain of Guilt" largely takes place at a movie studio where Quincy is acting as technical director for a film in progress -- and where, while watching the re-enactment of a real-life murder, he arrives at the conclusion that the person convicted for the crime may be innocent. Similarly, Quincy can't keep quiet while listening to the gaffes in the prosecution's case as he does "Jury Duty" in the episode of the same name. The sixth season ends with "Vigil of Fear," wherein Quincy tries to clear a group of well-meaning urban vigilantes from a charge of killing an innocent bystander. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

After a four-year relationship, Quincy (Jack Klugman) still cannot summon the courage to propose to his lady friend Lynne (Sharon Acker), and in fact seems to be deliberately neglected her in favor of his work. During a particularly difficult forensic procedure in which he must clean up after an incompetent colleague, Quincy reflects on his current romantic crisis--and flashes back to the events leading up to the death of his late wife Helen. Appearing as the former Mrs. Quincy is Anita Gillette), who ironically later joined the series as Quincy's second wife Emily. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

No murder is committed nor autopsy performed in this episode, in which medical examiner Quincy (Jack Klugman) delves into psychology. The catalyst for the plot is Timmy Carson (David Hollander), a hyperactive seven-year-old with a severely limited attention span. Though Timmy has escaped from an institution for mentally retarded youngsters, Quincy is persuaded that the boy is actually suffering from a treatable form of autism. The problem now is to convince the authorities that the boy is not retarded--and to persuade Timmy's parents that the money needed to treat his autism will be worth spending. Featured in the guest cast is Lloyd Nolan, in real life the father of an autistic son, and a very young Tracey Gold as Timmy's sister. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Jack Klugman returns as the titular medical examiner in the third season of Quincy, M.E.. Also back on the job are Robert Ito as Quincy's lab assistant, Sam; John S. Ragin as Dr. Robert Astin, our hero's superior at the L.A. Coroner's Office (not as pompous and bureaucratic a character as in the previous two seasons); Val Bisoglio as Danny, owner of Quincy's favorite restaurant; and Garry Walberg as police lieutenant Monahan, who officially must resist Quincy's chronic habit of playing detective as well as pathologist, but who privately welcomes the good doctor's assistance in solving murders and other baffling crimes. Other recurring characters include Eddie Garrett as Eddie, Joseph Roman as Sgt. Brill, and a newcomer to the series, Marc Scott Taylor, as Marc. The season opener, "No Deadly Secret," finds Quincy perplexed over the fact that a body upon which he had been performing an autopsy -- and the results of that autopsy -- have completely vanished from the morgue. In subsequent episodes, Quincy proves that a boxer who supposedly died in a ring accident was actually murdered; he exposes the questionable and dangerous procedures at a fashionable health spa; he employs his forensic skills to locate a kidnap victim after the kidnapper dies in a car crash; he clears a man of murder, even after the man confesses to the crime without coercion; and he goes on a personal crusade to solve the suspicious death of his favorite western movie star (played by veteran stunt man Chuck Roberson). Perhaps the most fascinating episodes of season three are "Passing," which was obviously inspired by the 1976 disappearance of labor leader Jimmy Hoffa; and the year's final episode, "Requiem for the Living," a Quincy-fied variation on the 1950 film noir classic D.O.A.. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

First seen on October 3, 1976, as a component of the rotating crime anthology series The NBC Mystery Movie, Quincy, M.E. starred Jack Klugman as the title character, a one-time private medical practitioner who, after the death of his wife, gave up his profitable practice to become a medical examiner with the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office. Using his vast knowledge of forensic medicine, Quincy (whose first name was never revealed on the series) frequently came up against cases of normal or "accidental" death, or suicide, that he suspected to be murders. Whenever this happened, Quincy went into full detective mode, ruffling the feathers of everyone in any sort of authority, from the police to the D.A.'s office to the medical establishment itself. Contentious and persistent, Quincy never let up until he proved his theories or solved the case at hand, even when facing public censure, the loss of his license or a stiff prison term.

Once the series ceased its sporadic NBC Mystery Movie schedule and became a weekly, one-hour NBC offering in the spring of 1977, Quincy broadened his range of outrage to include suspected cases of child abuse, drug and/or alcohol addiction brought about by flaws in the bureaucracy, governmental red tape, incompetent doctors, corrupt politicians, shifty lawyers, gangland chieftains, and those who would prey on the helpless and infirm in all walks of life. While Quincy's intentions were honorable and his results were often laudatory, he proved to be a major pain in the neck to his superior in the coroner's office, Dr. Robert Astin (John S. Ragin). Originally a pompous, preening obstructionist bureaucrat, Dr. Astin mellowed into an intelligent and avuncular character as the series wore on, and became one of Quincy's closest friends. Another "friendly adversary" was police lieutenant Frank Monahan (Garry Walberg), who frequently found himself both resisting Quincy's intrusions into his territory and welcoming his meticulous detective work and razor sharp deductions. Others in the supporting cast included Robert Ito as Quincy's young and ambitious assistant, Sam Fujiyama; Val Bisoglio as restaurateur Danny Tovo (who owned Quincy's favorite watering hole, Danny's); and Joseph Roman as police sergeant Brill.

Although he lived alone on his personal boat which he kept docked at a marina, Quincy did not want for female companionship. His girlfriend during the series' first two seasons was Lee Potter (Lynnette Mettey); she was followed by a steady stream of lovely ladies, including Dr. Emily Hanover (Anita Gillette), who ended up marrying Quincy after innumerable delays and breakups in the series' final season. Created and produced by Glen A. Larson, Quincy, M.E. remained a popular NBC attraction until its cancellation on September 5, 1983. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The first season of Quincy, M.E. found the series in rotation with three other 90-minute detective series (Columbo, McMillan, McCloud) on the Sunday night anthology The NBC Mystery Movie. Thus, crusading L.A. Coroner's Office medical examiner Quincy (Jack Klugman) appeared in only four episodes during the series' maiden season. In the first, "Go Fight City Hall -- To the Death," Quincy questions the likelihood that a young man arrested for the rape and strangulation of a woman could have actually committed the crime; as a result, he exceeds his authority by heading to the victim's workplace to ferret out the truth. In the next installment, "Who's Who of Neverland," Quincy fights his way through a sea of bureaucratic red tape to perform an autopsy on a alleged alcoholic prostitute who has just finished writing her memoirs -- and who just may have revealed her killer's identity in the manuscript. Donna Mills plays the titular victim in episode three, "A Star is Dead," with Quincy suspecting that the decedent did not commit suicide as the police believe. "Hot Ice, Cold Hearts" finds Quincy saving the life of a poisoned burglar, which leads our hero to an even bigger catch. Fans of Quincy will notice that the title character's superior at the Coroner's Office, Dr. Robert Astin (John S. Ragin), is more a blustery buffoon than he'd be in subsequent seasons, forever throwing pointless and self-serving roadblocks in the path of Quincy's investigations. Conversely, most of the other characters are fully formed from the outset, notably Quincy's eager-beaver assistant, Sam Fujiyama (Robert Ito) and irascible but likable police lieutenant Frank Monahan (Garry Walberg). Quincy's principal lady friend during this season (and the next) is cool blonde Lee Potter, played by Lynnette Mettey. Scoring a huge hit with audiences, Quincy was taken out of the NBC Mystery Movie rotation and given its own weekly, hour-long time slot beginning with its second season -- which commenced less than a month after season one, in February of 1977. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Larry Peerce directed this tired disaster movie about a mad sniper loose in a football stadium. At the beginning, the sniper picks off a cyclist for practice and then takes roost in the top tower of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Sent in to stop the terror is Captain Peter Holly (Charlton Heston), who wants to get his hands on the sniper without endangering the lives of the people in the stadium. Unfortunately, there is a second group of law enforcement officers, a tactical commando group, who want to go into the stadium and rush the sniper -- regardless of the danger such an action would cause to the crowd watching the game. The sniper plans to start blasting at the two-minute warning signal of the football game. Holly has to find the sniper before the two-minute warning is given -- not merely to prevent the killings threatened by the sniper but to head off the tactical force before any other unnecessary deaths are incurred by the force's bulldog techniques. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

The Underground Man was the pilot film for a series based on Ross MacDonald's private eye hero Lew Archer (the source of Paul Newman's film appearances as "Lew Harper"). Most of the elements of the factory-approved MacDonald formula are put into effect here: An old flame, a seemingly cut-and-dried case leading to sinister complexities, dark family secrets, ecological rape, and the inadvertent solving of previously unsolved crimes. Archer (Peter Graves) is hired to rescue the kidnapped son of his former love, and the cycle begins. This particular pilot didn't sell, but there would be a separately produced Archer series late in 1974 starring Brian Keith. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi